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The Vegas Train Isn’t Slowing Down: 2018-19 & Beyond

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They’re just off to a hot start. His shooting percentage is unsustainable. The schedule gets tougher in the second half. They’re not playoff-tested.

All of these things have been said about the Vegas Golden Knights, and all of them have been shot down as the team keeps rolling through the NHL like they were relegated from an even higher league. The team knocked out the San Jose Sharks yesterday on the back of another shutout by Marc-Andre Fleury, and will now sit and wait for the winner of Nashville-Winnipeg. Both the Predators and Jets are impressive hockey clubs, but if you think they’ll be big favorites over the Golden Knights, you haven’t been paying attention.

Vegas may well go all the way to the Stanley Cup in their first season. They could even take home the trophy, handing it to Fleury, James Neal, David Perron, and Deryk Engelland before handing it to some of the less experienced players. Eventually it would end up in the hands of 22-year old Shea Theodore, a defenseman who started the year in the AHL only to now log more than 22 and a half minutes a night in the playoffs. Or Alex Tuch, the 21-year old prospect the Golden Knights received from Minnesota who, while still unpolished, can look like an animal off his leash at times as he disrupts breakouts and crashes heavily on the forecheck.

It would be passed to Malcolm Subban, a forgotten first-round pick who showed that all he needed was a chance and some confidence. He’ll still be 24 when next season begins, and looking like the obvious successor to Fleury down the road.

It’s that “down the road” that is so interesting for the Golden Knights. That’s when everyone was expecting them to compete. Down the road. Maybe sometime in the future. When their draft picks develop.

Those draft picks are developing already.

Cody Glass, the first draft pick in Vegas franchise history, recorded 102 points in 64 games for the Portland Winterhawks this season. He only just turned 19, but on a weaker team would be pushing for a role in the NHL as soon as next season. Nick Suzuki, his CHL counterpart selected just a few picks later, recorded 100 points in 64 matches. 42 goals tied him for third in OHL scoring, and he won’t turn 19 until August. Only AHL eligibility rules will likely stop him from playing professional hockey next season, as he’s already too good for the junior ranks.

Erik Brannstrom, the forgotten first-round pick, logged a regular shift on defense against professionals in the SHL, recording 22 points in 44 games. Fellow drafted blueliner Nicolas Hague put up 35 goals and 78 points as a dominant presence in the OHL.

Some criticized the Golden Knights for giving up three draft picks for Tomas Tatar at the trade deadline, especially because of the limited impact he’s had for them. But Vegas still holds 11 combined picks in rounds 1-3 of the 2019 and 2020 drafts, and will continue to pump talent into their pipeline. They’re not going away.

This summer could see the departure of Neal and Perron, and the offense will suffer. There is a chance that Fleury takes a step backwards, and the top line doesn’t produce as much. But there is more talent coming, there are more players ready to take the next step. Even as the core changes in the next few years, Vegas is set up for long-term success. The train isn’t slowing down, it’s just going to change conductors.

Minnesota Wild GM Chuck Fletcher May Not Get Extension

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After suffering a embarrassing 5-0 defeat Friday that knocked the Minnesota Wild from the first-round of the playoffs, there is likely to be consequences going forward. At least that’s what The Athletic’s Mike Russo (subscription required) writes, suggesting that general manager Chuck Fletcher’s job may not have the security it did a couple of weeks ago. The GM is in the last year of his deal and is awaiting a contract extension.

For the third consecutive season, the Wild have exited after the first-round and have lost 16 of their last 20 playoff games, suggesting that Fletcher may not have assembled the right players meant to sustain a run throughout the playoffs. Granted, Fletcher has done a lot of good in Minnesota. His team’s have reached the playoffs for six straight seasons and the team has reached 100 points in three of the last four seasons. On top of that, key injuries have hampered this year’ playoff hopes, including losses to defensemen Ryan Suter and most recently Zach Parise.

Russo wrote a story 10 days ago, suggesting owner Craig Leipold felt Fletcher deserved an extension and was ready to extend Fletcher after the playoffs, but Russo now says he’s heard that Leipold might be rethinking that.

Much could have to do with recent moves over the last year. One major blunder that is often pointed out is that the Vegas Golden Knights walked away with two top-six forwards from the expansion draft in Erik Haula and Alex Tuch so the Wild could protect some of their younger defensemen. Both players are starting on the Golden Knights’ second line on a team that has advanced farther than Minnesota recently in just one year of existence, thanks in part to the performances of those two players. Haula, who had 15 goals and 11 assists last year in Minnesota, broke out for a 29-goal, 55-point season in Vegas, while the 20-year-old Tuch had 15 goals and 22 assists in his rookie campaign.

Last season at the trade deadline, the team sent their 2017 first-round pick to Arizona for rentals Martin Hanzal and Ryan White, neither of which made much of an impact for the team’s playoff fortunes that year. The team also traded Jason Pominville and Marco Scandella for Marcus Foligno and Tyler Ennis in the offseason. Foligno produced one of his worst NHL season with just eight goals, while Ennis was a healthy scratch four out of five times in the playoffs and is a buyout candidate this summer at $4.6MM. Other deals, including signing defenseman Kyle Quincey and then quickly burying him in the AHL (although he never played a game there) after just 18 games.

The franchise will likely take a few days before making any decisions on their management.

 

Western Notes: Sedins, Doughty, Golden Knights, Hyka

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Recent comments from Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin suggest the twin brothers are hoping for another year in Vancouver. Already 37 and trending downwards in their career, the struggling Canucks were considered to be sellers at the trade deadline. However, the Sedin twins return also might throw a wrench into general manager Jim Benning’s deadline plans.

While the team has several key trade chips to move, including veteran scorer Thomas Vanek and defenseman Erik Gudbranson, Benning might be more likely to retain or extend them to surround the Sedin twins with veteran players, according to J.D. Burke of The Athletic (subscription required). The scribe begins by pointing out that the Sedin’s decision will have major implications to the salary cap and the look of the team. The cost to retain both soon-to-be 38-year-old forwards will be about $10MM, estimates Burke, who adds the team would have to make a decision whether to keep Vanek with the team.

If the Sedin’s stay, will Benning look for assets that might benefit the veteran Sedins, rather than focus on the team’s need to rebuild. Benning has often preferred to acquire players, rather than trade for picks. The team has a lot of prospects coming through the system already, but not trading their assets at the deadline could hurt the future of the team down the road as well. No one is saying the Sedin twins shouldn’t come back. They have been with the franchise since they started their careers and should be welcomed, but not at the expense of the team’s future.

  • Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty spoke to the media today at the all-star’s media day. According to Los Angeles’ Times writer Helene Elliott, Doughty said that money and term aren’t the only factor in the way he will approach free agency in 2018-19. “I don’t know if a lot of people think our future looks bright but I think our future does as the L.A. Kings organization,” Doughty said. “We’ve got some young guys that aren’t with us yet that will make a difference in a couple years. We still have that core group of guys. I think we’re trending in the right direction and getting back to hopefully where we were a few years back.”
  • Yahoo Sports’ Ryan Lambert writes that while the praise that goes towards Vegas Golden Knights general manager George McPhee is well earned, he believes that Vegas’ unbelievable success should fall on the shoulder of all the other teams’ general managers. The scribe writes that if other general managers had done a better job managing their own rosters, the Golden Knights wouldn’t have been able to get better quality players and picks in order to pad their roster in the initial first year. The expansion draft should net expansion team with back-end forwards and defensemen and No. 2 goalies. However, Florida Panther general manager Dave Talon just handed two top-six forwards to Vegas to get rid of the contract of Reilly Smith, while they opted to move on from Jonathan Marchessault because they didn’t believe he could repeat his 30-goal season from last year. The same can be said for the Minnesota Wild, who gave Vegas forward Alex Tuch and Erik Haula in exchange for draft considerations. There were so many draft considerations from plenty of other teams such as the New York Islanders, the Columbus Blue Jackets and Tampa Bay Lightning. Had general managers made better decisions, perhaps the Golden Knights wouldn’t be the top team in the West. Lambert also adds that the team still has 10 draft picks that will fall in the first two rounds over the next three years. Doesn’t look like Vegas is going anywhere.
  • Still with the Golden Knights, SinBinVegas tweets that prospect Tomas Hyka, who was scheduled to play in the AHL All-Star game on Jan. 29, has been replaced with T.J. Tynan as Hyka is now listed as “unavailable for the game.” Vegas plays its first game after the all-star break on Jan. 30, suggesting Hyka might get called up instead. The 24-year-old wing, who signed out of the Czech. Republic, has 12 goals and 31 points in 32 games with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves.

Luke Tuch Commits To Boston University

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While rookie forward Alex Tuch is making a name for himself with the Vegas Golden Knights this season, his younger brother is hoping to follow in his footsteps by joining one of college hockey’s top programs. Luke Tuch announced his commitment to Boston University today, as he begins to map out his own road to the NHL.

The commitment is curious in many ways though. The first oddity of Tuch’s decision is the age that he is making it. Tuch is just 15 years old and, while hockey is perhaps the most genetic sport in the world, has little proof of his ability thus far in his youth career outside of a growing frame similar to his brother’s and hopes that it will spawn a similar playing style and knack for scoring goals down the road. While he may have a couple of years on the youngest college commitment in NCAA history – 2018 draft prospect Oliver Wahlstrom who committed to Maine at 13 (and then de-committed at 15) – it still seems like the younger Tuch could have waited to make the decision. After all, his commitment is not until the 2020-21 season and he is not draft eligible until 2020.

It is also strange to see the brother of a Boston College alum decide to play at Boston University. Few rivalries in all of college sports rival the BC Eagles-BU Terriers feud as the two teams share a long history, a conference, the annual Beanpot Tournament, and, of course, a city. While both teams have seen multiple members of the same family play for their teams, it is far less common to see a family split between the rivals. Should Alex continue his rise to stardom and Luke reach the same level of hype his brother had during his college days, this sibling rivalry will be one that bears watching.

What Your Team Is Thankful For: Minnesota Wild

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As the holiday season approaches, PHR will look at what teams are thankful for as the season nears the quarter point of completion. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We take a look at what’s gone well in the first month and what could improve as the season rolls on. So far we’ve covered the following teams: ANA, ARZ, BOS, BUF, CGY, CAR, CBJ, COL, DET, EDM, FLA, LAK, NSH, NJD, NYI, NYR, PHI, PIT, SJS, STL, TOR, VAN, VGK and WSH.

Jordan GreenwayWhat are the Minnesota Wild most thankful for?

A deep prospect pool.

When the Wild approached the expansion draft last year, they were in trouble. They had too many assets that needed protection, and were destined to lose an excellent player. In order to sway the Vegas Golden Knights’ decision in a certain direction, they gave up prized prospect Alex Tuch. Though the team had drafted Tuch in the first round just a few years prior, his upside and potential impact wasn’t seen to be as high as some of their other prospects.

Well, six months later and Tuch is starring alongside Erik Haula (the other player lost in the expansion process) in Vegas, and the Wild are struggling to stay relevant in the playoff picture. Surely they’d like to have Tuch back, but luckily those other high-end prospects still remain.

Though the relationship with Kirill Kaprizov—or lack thereof—makes the Russian a complete wildcard, there are others who should have Minnesota fans excited for the next few years. Joel Eriksson Ek and Luke Kunin have both played roles in the NHL this season, while Jordan Greenway continues to dominate players even older than him in the college ranks. Ivan Lodnia was just signed after a blistering start in Erie, and the team has four picks in the top three rounds this upcoming draft.

Who are the Wild most thankful for?

Eric Staal.

General managers around the league must be hitting themselves over not pursuing Staal in the summer of 2016. Coming off a horrible season, in which he was traded from the team he’d been drafted by and captained for seven years, Minnesota happily scooped him up on July 1st. Much was said about how Staal might be on the way out of the game, until he immediately found success in Minnesota to the tune of 28 goals and 65 points.

The three-year, $10.5MM contract that he signed was just $1MM more in total than he’d earned in 2015-16 alone. Minnesota got a legitimate number one center, and borderline Hall of Fame candidate for the price of a third or fourth-line player. You can still hear Chuck Fletcher laughing to himself somewhere in St. Paul.

Staal has been everything for the club this year, leading the team in points with 26 through their first 30 games and coming through with one of the best possession seasons of his career. Playing nearly 19 minutes a night and hitting the ice in all circumstances, Staal’s contract is one of the best in the entire league. While now 33 years old, he’ll still be exceptionally valuable in the final year of his deal next season.

Mikko KoivuWhat would the Wild be even more thankful for?

Some “puck luck” for Mikko Koivu.

Despite still being an excellent possession player, used in all situations, Koivu can’t seem to get much going offensively this season. Coming off another one of his patented solid-if-not-spectacular seasons with 58 points, he only has 15 in his first 30 games and eight of those are on the powerplay. He’s now been held pointless in his last eight games despite being on the ice for more than 147 minutes, and hasn’t found the back of the net himself since October.

Amazingly, a lot of that has to do with pure bad luck. Koivu is carrying a pathetic 5.1% shooting percentage this season, far below his career average. Though he’s never been a sniper that carries a high percentage, he’s due for some luck going his way at some point. During his 21-game goalless streak he’s fired 58 shots on net without a single one trickling through.

He’s not only used for his offense, but a bounce here or there would be a big help for the Wild as they try to claw their way back into the playoff picture.

What should be on the Wild’s Holiday Wish List?

Another center.

When the Wild lost Haula and let Martin Hanzal walk in free agency, their center depth was tested. Though they brought in Matt Cullen, who has done a fine job for them so far, their unyielding ability to throw an effective center over the boards every single shift has left them. Charlie Coyle can play the position but the team likes him better on the wing, and Kunin isn’t quite ready for a full-time role.

There is the possibility that when Zach Parise eventually returns from injury they’ll move Coyle back to the middle, but an addition would be the best option. It’ll be tough, as the Wild are pressed right up against the cap thanks the the hefty cap hits of Tyler Ennis and Marcus Foligno, both who’ve been healthy scratches at times this year. That fact may force them to go with what they have right now, but it will be interesting to see if they find a way to get involved as the deadline approaches.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

NHL Snapshots: MacDonald, Haula, Marchessault, Bennett

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The Philadelphia Flyers announced today that defenseman Andrew MacDonald will miss four to six weeks with a lower body injury. According to NHL.com’s Bill Meltzer, MacDonald stepped into a path of a slap shot from Edmonton’s Milan Lucic during a penalty killing shift of Saturday’s 2-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. It hit his knee and MacDonald suffered a deep bone bruise, according to CSN’s Tim Panaccio.

Despite the injury, MacDonald stayed in the game. In fact, after taking the hit and going down, he still forced himself to get up and help clear the puck. The 31-year-old blueliner had a dominant performance against the Oilers, as he recorded three shots on goal, six blocked shots and played the second-most minutes on the team at 22:03.

No corresponding moves have been made, although its possible the Flyers will promote defenseman Samuel Morin, who made the team out of training camp, but was a healthy scratch for four games before he was sent down to Lehigh Valley. In five games with the AHL team, he has put up a goal, three assists, 10 penalty minutes and a plus/minus of +3.

  • While the Vegas Golden Knights await the injury status of goaltender Malcolm Subban, Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Steve Carp tweets out that Erik Haula, who was put on injured reserve eight days ago, practiced with the team today and told Carp he is ready to return to the team, but wouldn’t say when. David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal tweets that Jon Marchessault, who was placed on injured reserve on Oct. 15, also says he is ready to return to the Golden Knights lineup and said he expects to be activated for Tuesday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks after practicing today. The team may reverse their transactions from last week and send Vadim Shipachyov and Alex Tuch back to the AHL. Both Shipachyov and Tuch tallied no points and neither had any shots on goal in Saturday’s game against the St. Louis Blues. Shipachyov received only 10:22 of ice time, while Tuch had 8:49.
  • Kent Wilson of The Athletic (subscription required) answers mailbag questions about Calgary Flames center Sam Bennett, who has zero points after eight games. Wilson writes the lack of offense would be acceptable if he was impacting the game in other ways, but that isn’t the case. Bennett, whose first full season showed a lot of promise two years ago when he finished with 18 goals and 18 assists, took a step down last year when he only had 13 goals and 13 assists. Now his numbers look even more bleak. Wilson suggests the team move the 2014 fourth-overall pick to the wing in hopes of helping the 21-year-old’s success and promoting Mark Jankowski, who is tearing up the AHL right now with five goals and four assists in six games.

Golden Knights Place Fleury, Marchessault On IR

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The Las Vegas Golden Knights may have had a nice start to their inaugural season, but Chris Johnston of Sportsnet tweeted that the team just placed two of their best players on injured reserve today in Marc-Andre Fleury and Jon Marchessault. No word on how serious their injuries are. The Golden Knights confirmed the transactions and announced they will call up prospect Alex Tuch and goaltender Maxime Legace from Chicago of the AHL.

The loss of Fleury, who has been the face of the franchise, is devastating to a team who lacks a solid backup goaltender. Fleury has helped lead Vegas through their first three victories, but the goaltender took a knee to the head from Anthony Mantha in the middle of Friday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings. While nothing has been officially declared by the Golden Knights about his injury, rumors that he has suffered a concussion have surfaced. Fleury has had multiple issues with concussions in his career with the Pittsburgh Penguins, so the team will likely be cautious with the 32-year-old veteran. He was having a good season so far in four games with Vegas, as he 2.48 GAA and a .925 save percentage. If you remove the last period he played (coincidentally, after he took the knee to the head), those numbers would be even better as he allowed four goals in that one period alone.

For the time being, the team will have to put their faith in backup Malcolm Subban. In fact, Subban will start tonight against his former team, the Boston Bruins. Just 12 days ago, Vegas decided to claim Subban from the Bruins and place their veteran backup, Calvin Pickard, on waivers. Pickard cleared waivers and the Golden Knights traded him to Toronto in exchange for prospect Tobias Lindberg and a 2018 sixth-round pick three days after that. Subban has little NHL experience. He played one partial game back in 2014-15 and another partial game last year, totaling 62 minutes and allowed three goals in each outing. In the preaseason this year for the Bruins, Subban played in four games, finishing with a 2.71 GAA and a .889 save percentage.

Marchessault, who has been playing on the Golden Knights top scoring line, is listed out with a lower-body injury. The 26-year-old wing scored 30 goals for the Florida Panthers last year before being claimed by Vegas in the expansion draft. He so far has just one goal in the team’s first four games. He will be replaced by Tuch, who was one of the top players for Vegas in the preseason. A physical player, Tuch was praised for his work on the boards and gritty, hard-working style. He was forced to go to Chicago because he was waiver-eligible on a roster full of non-waiver eligible players. Tuch has taken advantage of his time in Chicago. In three games with the Wolves, Tuch had four goals and an assist. The 21-year-old was a first-round pick by the Minnesota Wild back in 2014.

The team also recalled Lagace to be the team’s backup. Lagace, 24, has spent the last few years going back and forth between the AHL and the ECHL. He played for the Texas Stars last year in the AHL and played in 32 games, putting up a 3.56 GAA and a .883 save percentage. This year for the Wolves, Legace has allowed eight goals in two games with a 4.05 GAA.

Shipachyov, Theodore On AHL Opening Roster

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When the Vegas Golden Knights sent Vadim Shipachyov, Shea Theodore and Alex Tuch to the AHL earlier this week, it was expected that they would be recalled in time for tonight’s season opener. It was supposed to be just a paper transaction to give the team time to find a buyer for some of their defensemen, but that idea now has a little bit of doubt.

The Chicago Wolves—Vegas’ AHL affiliate—have submitted their “Opening Night Roster” to the AHL, and it includes all three of the expected recalls. Though this doesn’t guarantee that they’ll stay down, it’s interesting that the team would even include them if they knew a call-up was coming today. Even more to that point, the team tweeted out that both Tuch and Theodore have new numbers, though Shipachyov was not included.

Vegas currently has eleven healthy forwards, but many expect James Neal to come off the injured list to dress in tonight’s game. If that’s true, they wouldn’t necessarily need to recall anyone to ice the regular 12 forwards, six defensemen and two goaltenders. Neal was on the ice at morning skate, without Shipachyov.

NHL Snapshots: Johansson, Hanzal, Spezza, Tuch

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Former Washington Capitals forward Marcus Johansson said he wasn’t surprised that he found himself traded a couple of months ago to the New Jersey Devils. Despite winning another President’s Trophy, given to the top regular season team, Johansson knew that the team’s lifespan was limited and was prepared for a possible breakup. The Capitals traded Johansson, lost defenseman Nate Schmidt to the expansion draft and allowed Justin Williams, Kevin Shattenkirk and Karl Alzner all depart via free agency.

NBC Sports Cam Tucker writes that Johansson recognizes that as being part of the game and is ready to move on to a bigger role with the Devils who need scoring. New Jersey had the third-worst offense in the NHL last year at 2.2 goals per game.

“Sometimes you have to change things and we had some good opportunities to win these past two years and we didn’t take them and I think this is what comes afterward,” said Johansson. “They have to change something and guys needed new contracts and stuff like that, so that’s the way it goes. There’s nothing more to say about it.”

  • Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun writes that the renaming of the Toronto Maple Leafs arena last week that has Scotiabank getting the naming rights for $800MM (CAD) on July 1, 2018, will have a huge benefit to the players throughout the league. He writes that half of the $40MM each year goes to the hockey-related revenue, which should have a positive influence on the future salary cap.
  • Sportsday’s Mike Heika interviewed Dallas Stars’ head coach Ken Hitchcock about the team’s center position and learned that the new coach expects to play newly acquired Martin Hanzal at center, but still hasn’t made up his mind when it comes to Jason Spezza. “To me, Hanzal is a center. The role Jason will have is a split duty role, and if I play Spezza on the wing, it will be a left wing. Jason will play a lot of center and some wing. We need to start with the puck, so he’s definitely going to be taking draws on his strong side,” Hitchcock said.
  • Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen writes that while the Golden Knights are not likely to keep any first year players (other than Vadim Shipachyov, people should keep an eye on Alex Tuch. The 21-year-old wing who was a first-round pick of the Minnesota Wild in 2014, could be a darkhorse candidate to make the team. Vegas, known for stockpiling draft picks, actually traded their third-rounder two months ago for Tuch. He scored 18 goals in 57 AHL games for the Iowa Wild and managed to play in six NHL games a year ago.

Wild Did Not Push To Sign Kirill Kaprizov

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Despite rumors earlier this off-season that Kirill Kaprizov, one of the top prospects of the Minnesota Wild, was potentially looking to make to the jump to the NHL, the young Russian scorer ended up re-signing in the KHL. The 20-year-old inked a three-year deal with CSKA Moscow of the KHL, with the new contract finally being made official yesterday. The term of the deal surprised many, as – barring a player buyout – Kaprizov’s highly-anticipated NHL debut would not be until 2020. However, in an interview today with Soviet Sports (link in Russian), Kaprizov lent some reasoning to his new contract. It seems that the Wild were not all that interested in bringing him overseas this off-season after all.

When the reporter asked “Minnesota showed great interest in you?” (translated), Kaprizov replied honestly that he has not had any direct contact with the team. He stated that Wild representatives last spoke with his agent at the 2017 World Juniors, but had not reached out since. Kaprivoz’s understanding was that Minnesota was simply waiting for his arrival “one day”, which flies in the face of speculation that the team had reached out to the 20-year-old this summer. While some have opined that the negotiations were effected by outside intervention, seemingly supported by Kaprizov’s previous reluctance to confirm a new KHL contract and an assumption that he was waiting for an offer from Minnesota, Kamprizov had the chance to say as much today and failed to do so.

While Kaprizov was just only a fifth-round pick in 2015, he has already greatly outperformed his draft slot. At just 19 years old last season, Kaprizov registered 42 points in 49 games for the KHL’s Salavat Yulaev Ufa, second only on the teams to former NHLer Linus Omark, and then added another 12 points in seven games in an impressive World Junior showing. Why then did Minnesota not reach out to the high-scoring youngster? Kaprizov was asked in his interview if he had given any thought to the difficult task of breaking into a Wild top six of Zach Parise, Eric Staal, Mikko Koivu, Mikael Granlund, Nino Niederreiter, and Jason Zucker, to which he of course replied that he had not thought of since Minnesota had not yet offered him the chance to play for the team, but the reported does make a valid point. Even with Alex Tuch and Erik Haula now in Vegas, Kaprizov stood little chance of cracking that top six and may have even struggled to beat out Charlie Coyle, rookie Luke Kunin, or recent additions Marcus Foligno and Tyler Ennis for a top nine role. Rather than waste Kaprizov on a checking line role or put him in the AHL, it seems likely that the Wild would simply rather let him continue to develop in the KHL. As for the three-year term, Minnesota and Kaprizov both realize that getting out of KHL contracts is relatively easy and should a spot open up for him sooner than three years, don’t be surprised to see the two sides finally come together. Even if he does play out his contract with CSKA, the reporter notes that Kaprizov would still be only 23 years old, the same age that Artemi Panarin came over from Russia and won the Calder Trophy.

The bridge is far from burnt between Kaprizov and the Wild, but it is interesting to note that the information surrounding their relationship appears to have been way off. For now, Kaprizov will continue to be just a “prospect” of the Wild, but with a shallow pipeline of talent in Minnesota and a point-per-game player continuing to grow and develop in arguably the second best hockey league in the world, it seems likely that these two sides will be joined sooner rather than later.

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